Ben Hopkins’s script gets down to business right from the jump. Fuze has neither the time nor the patience for set up or backstory. It has one job, to create tension to propel the film ever forward. This is a situation where we learn about our characters by watching them act and react, not through their biographies. In fact, the few times the film attempts to drop in some historical context or personal chronicle, are clunky moments where the momentum falters.
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The film is primarily composed of three intertwining threads. There are the cops, fronted by Chief Superintendent Zuzana Greenfield (Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Beyond the Lights), the heist crew led by X (Sam Worthington, Avatar) and Karalis (Theo James, Divergent), and the military’s explosive ordinance disposal unit, helmed by Will Tranter (Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Nosferatu). As the narrative progresses, who takes center stage shifts, and Mackenzie and Hopkins layer twist upon twist upon twist, to the point where all you can do is wait for the next big reveal, because you know one is coming.
Fuze is well crafted, looks fantastic in the hands of cinematographer Giles Nuttgens (Battlefield Earth), and the cast does a solid job. Mbatha-Raw’s role is a bit slight, and she ends up feeling like an underutilized asset, though she gives the part a bit more gravity than it could have had. And the other core three, Worthington, James, and Taylor-Johnson, while they aren’t asked to stretch, do what the film requires of them. X is the tough guy who scowls and doesn’t say much, Karalis is the fast-talking charmer, and Tranter is the laser-focused soldier with his eyes on the prize and a vague trauma looming in the background.
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What the film has going for it the most are escalating tension and a propulsive clip that barrels ahead at all times. Composer Tony Doogan (Relay) coats the film with an urgent, pressing string score. It accentuates the already ample stress as the characters deal with a harrowing predicament, escalating complications, and fluid, ever-changing perspectives. Just when they, and by extension we the audience, think we have a grasp on things, the point of view tweaks ever so slightly to expose a new truth. Just when things need to go right, that’s when they go wrong.
Fuze does waste Gugu Mbatha-Raw a bit, and at times it certainly goes overboard with the twists and betrayals and misdirects. Also, the where-are-they-now end credits for fictional people is always an odd choice. But Mackenzie and company accomplish precisely what they set out to do and deliver a tight, fun, engrossing heist thriller with constantly increasing pressure, a few solid action set pieces, and an intriguing enough plot. It feels very much like a mid-budget studio programmer from the 1990s, a well-constructed suspense yarn that more than keeps your attention, even if it never blazes any new trails. It gets in, does the job, and gets out. [Grade: B]
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